Many vehicles are currently powered by petroleum-based fuels. The use of such vehicles and such fuels can be disadvantageous for several reasons. First, petroleum-based fuel can generate a relatively large amount of by-products from combustion (exhaust). The exhaust by-products generate greenhouse gases and pollution, which are profoundly changing and damaging the earth's environment. One pollution-free source of energy is solar energy, but currently available forms of solar energy cannot be readily adapted for vehicle propulsion systems.
Additionally, petroleum resources that are needed for such vehicles are sometimes controlled by politically unstable regimes that are inimical to the United States.
In addition to the considerations listed above, most vehicles that use petroleum-based fuels are mechanically inefficient, because most of these vehicles have a propulsion system which requires the conversion of linear mechanical energy from the engine pistons to rotational energy to drive the vehicle wheels. Because such engines have so many moving parts, much of the energy is used in overcoming frictional forces in the engine itself. As a result, more energy per unit mass is required to propel the vehicle, which results in more petroleum-based fuels being consumed, which further results in more harmful combustion by-products being released into the environment. What is desired is a propulsion system that runs on an alternative fuel, and one that moves in a rotary manner in the direction of the axle, in order to significantly increase the engine efficiency.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a propulsion system with a minimum of major moving parts. It is another object of the present invention to provide a propulsion system that uses fuel that can be made readily available in many countries throughout the world. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a propulsion system that yields liquid water as its exhaust product. A further object of the present invention is to provide a propulsion system that can be easily manufactured in a cost-efficient manner.